John Hearst of the Long Canes

In the 1750's, when the area was first settled, the Long
Cane District of South Carolina was in Cherokee country. This became all too apparent
when, in 1759, the small, non-Indian population of this and other backcountry settlements
was forced to seek protection in the local forts due to the increasing hostility of the
Cherokee Nation. Not all of them made it in time. On 1 February 1760, all the residents of
the Long Cane settlement were descending toward Pattersons bridge on their way to
Augusta, a more settled and secure area of the country. While making camp for the night,
they were attacked by a band of 100 Cherokee. Not having completed the protection of the
camp, this group of 150-250 was unable to put up much of a defense and between 20 to 50
them lost their lives. For the next few years, the backcountry was left to the Indians.

In 1763, the Peace of Paris concluded the Seven Years War (French and Indian War) and
the Indian hostilities in the American colonies subsided. By 1764, the backcountry of
South Carolina had once again become peaceful and was attracting new settlers. One such
group of immigrants arrived on 28 July of that year in New York. Dr. Thomas Clark, his
entire Presbyterian congregation, and some of their neighbors had embarked at Newry,
Ireland, 10 May 1764 on the John bound for America. After arriving, about half of
the group went to settle in Stillwater, New York. The remainder made their way to the Long
Cane District where they made up the nuclei of the Little Run, Long Cane, and Cedar Creek
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Churches (ARPC).

One theory has John Hearst and family, who were originally from Scotland, coming to
America with Dr. Clark and settling in the Long Cane area. His children were members of
the ARPC as evidenced by the 1797 call, which contains the names of all his sons and
presumably his daughters through their husbands. The origin of this theory is
thought to be from John's granddaughter Mary and her
husband Jacob Clark.

An alternative theory according to 'Early Settlers of Franklin County', compiled
and edited by Ralph Gregory, was that the first American settler of this line was a John
Hearst or Hurst who settled in the Isle of Wight County, Virginia in 1680. The
article further states that his son John moved to the Abbeville district of South Carolina
in 1766. The Hursts of Virginia were from England

A third theory, which appears to be born out by the facts, has him coming to South
Carolina from Ireland in late 1765 or early 1766. Both John and his son John appear
in the Council Journal for 26 Oct 1766 under the surname Hearse on 26 October 1766.
The entries indicates that they arrived
during the Stamp Act protest (1 November 1765 to 6 May 1766).

The Long Cane area was originally part of Colleton and Granville
Counties, which extended from one end of the state to the other. In 1769 the backcountry
was reallocated into the 96th district. The district was further sub-divided in
1795 into the Abbeville, Edgefield, Newberry, Laurens and Spartanburg Districts. The Long
Cane area was encompassed by Abbeville district. This district was finally divided into
three counties: Abbeville, Greenwood, and McCormick. The Long Cane district extends
through all three counties, but is primarily in the southern part of Abbeville County.

John wrote his will 9 Sep 1780
and it was probated 23 Aug 1782. His wife Mary was named executrix and the witnesses
were Robert Wilson and Robert Erwin. All the children listed above appear in the
will. The will also mentions a step daughter, Eloner O'Bryan, which presumably was
the daughter of his wife Mary from a previous marriage.

John's son William left a will
dated 8 Jan 1823, which was settled 8 Dec 1834. The will names his "full"
brothers and sisters. It is presumed, therefore, that there was a second unknown
wife that was the mother to the remaining children. It's possible that Mary O'Bryan was that
second wife.

The following can be found in the 1800 census for the Abbeville district of South
Carolina:

The distribution of the children between Martha and Phoebe is not known. John's
will was administered on 6 Feb 1808 by Robert Hearst and Josiah Patterson Esq. The
estate was administered again on 9 Jan 1807 by Phoebe Hearst, Andrew Gray, and John Gray.
The sum of $1200.05 was paid to the each of the following: Lewis Hearst, John
Hearst, Robert Hearst, George Hearst, Jane McMillian, John Gallaugher, James Cochran,
and Jacob Clark. John McMillianreceived $3346.91.

John was identified as a major in his will and is presumed to have served in the
Continental Army.

A likely death record appears for the daughter Isabella in Washington County, Missouri Death Book 1883-1893, page 23: "Isabel Hearst, female, white, 90y, died Dec 21 1884, single
American, born in South Carolina, 70y resident of Missouri, died in Kingston Furnace from old age, for several years
buried in Stafford Graveyard on Dec 22 1884, papers filed by Sam’l Gibson of Kingston Furnace"

George came to the Abbeville district of South Carolina with his parents in
1766.According to probate records, George Hearst married an unknown Pressly prior to
1807 (the first name of Jane is unproven at this point). The George of this marriage
may have been the son of Major John Hearst below. In circa 1808, George and
his family left South Carolina for Illinois. George's son Joseph stated in the 1850
census that he was born in Illinois. After a few years, the George once again moved,
this time to Missouri were he settled in the Meramec valley near his brother Thomas who
had preceded him there. It appears that he married again around 1820. By the
timeof his death, George had become one of the wealthiest man in Meramec
township. He kept 19 of the 41 slaves to be found in the township.

George Hearst died intestate in 1822. His estate was administered by William
Hearst and William Gibson. The following record was filed 17 July 1862 in the
Recorder of Deeds, Franklin County, Missouri, page 622:

Know all men by these presents that we the heirs
as follows of the Estate of George Hearst Deceased: Elias Gibson & Easther Gibson
Widow of said Hearst, William Gibson, Joseph Hearst, Caleb Bowls, & Elias Gibson as
guardian for Eveline Hearst for and in consideration of thirty three dollars to each of us
paid in hand by William Hearst have granted bargained, sold, and released unto the said
William Hearst ... set our hands and seals this eighth day of November One thousand
Eight-hundred and twenty-Eight. [punctuation added]

Caleb Bowles was the husband of Mary Hearst. William Gibson is almost certainly
the husband of another daughter.

The attribution of Martha as a daughter to George can be found in Greenwood
County Sketches, by Margaret Watson, Attic Press, Greenwood, SC., P 254:

GEORGE HEARST was the son of the pioneer John. Name of wife not known.
Four Children: William G. Hearst. A son was George Hearst who lived in California
and was the father of Wm Randolph Hearst ... Joseph Hearst m. first, Ann Frazier,2. (?)
[Hannah] Armstead; Polly [Mary] Hearst married Caleb Bowles; daughter, name not
known [Martha], married cousin, Lewis Hearst. 5 Children, all dsp.

Martha may have remarried to William Gibson. In that case, unknown and Martha are
one in the same. William Hearst, Polly Hearst, Easter Hearst, William Gibson, and
Elias Gibson's names appear in the bill of sale for George Hearst's personal estate.

In 1830 William bought out his brother Joseph's interest in the land they had inherited
from their father. He rented out some of his land while using the rest for
stock raising and farming.

In testimony given by William's son George, it is stated that William died in November 1844. He
also mentions having to care for his brother Jacob and his sister Martha. Three
other children have been mentioned in other genealogies: Phillip b 1824; Elizabeth d 1861;
and William b 1837. Their association to this line does not appear to be supported
by the facts available to me. It is possible that they may have died before 1844.

A record of her death can be found in the Washington County, Missouri Death Book 1883-1893, page 23: "Isabel Hearst, female, white, 90y, died Dec 21 1884, single American, born in South Carolina, 70y resident of Missouri, died in Kingston Furnace from old age, for several years buried in Stafford Graveyard on Dec 22 1884, papers filed by Sam�l Gibson of Kingston Furnace". According to Shala Huff, Isabella was deaf as a result of an illness and inherited the home place from her parents.

George graduated from the Franklin County Mining School in 1838. While still in
Missouri, George pursued various mining interests including prospecting and dealing in
mineral lands and rights. He also owned a general store at Judith Springs.

With news of the gold strike in California George asked
Dr. William Nelson Patton to handle his affairs and property as well as his father's estate. He left for California on or about 15 May 1850 taking five months to make the journey. While in
California, a few creditors took advantage of George's absence and brought
attachments against land he owned that was in Dr. Patton's care. When Dr. Patton
failed to satisfy the demands, the Hearst lands in his control were sold on the court
house steps.

George didn't make his fortune in the California mines. He was keeping a store
when, in 1859, the Comstock Lode was discovered in Nevada. George joined the rush
there and invested in the Ophir mine. When Alva Gould sold his claim to
George Hearst for $450, he ran down the street yelling "I tricked a
Californian". After digging for only two months, George and his partners hauled
38 tons of high grade ore to California and made a profit of $90,000 from its sale. In
less than a year he sold his share in the mine for a fortune. At one time the Ophir
mine, which was almost a quarter mile in length was worth $4,000 per foot. During
his life, George also invested in the Homestake Mine in South Dakota and the Anaconda Mine
in Montana, two other large mining discoveries.

After selling his interest in the Comstock mines, George returned to Franklin County
where he was able to see his mother before she died in 1861. He stayed on in order
to pursue law suits against the heirs of Dr. Patton - he having died in 1858 - to recover
losses from the sale of his land holdings. George's relationship with the Patton's
may have not been too acrimonious for family tradition has it that George courted Dr.
Patton's daughter Susan Ellen before marrying her close friend Phoebe Apperson.
Susan Ellen eventually married George's first cousin, Caleb Bowles at George's and
Phoebe's home in San Francisco in 1868. In addition to the marriage record, the Crawford County Marriage Book contains a contract in which George gave 50 shares of Gorden & Curry Gold & Silver Mining Company to Phoebe

George served in the U. S. Congress as senator for California from 1886 until his
death. It was George that first acquired the land on which Hearst's Castle now
stands. George and Phoebe lived in a much smaller house at the foot of the hill